B2B healthcare marketing is complex, especially for SaaS companies selling solutions to multiple stakeholders across departments. One of the biggest mistakes these vendors make is chasing bright, shiny objects and spinning out one-off, attention-grabbing activities that don’t contribute to their business objectives.
So, where to begin? We asked Rebecca Graves, co-founder of The Spot On Agency, to share her experience of helping SaaS companies design and implementing B2B healthcare marketing strategies.
While there’s no cookie-cutter approach, Graves identified five foundational components upon which every B2B healthcare marketing strategy should build. Let’s explore how you can set the stage for success.
Many SaaS companies rush into building a website or running online ads, hoping to generate leads and close sales immediately. However, putting tactics before strategies can lead to many problems in the future.
For example, without a sound keyword strategy and user experience design to drive traffic and engage visitors, your website won’t rank high in organic searches or capture leads to meet your business objectives and conversion goals. Instead, allow time to develop a website strategy and refine your approach through data-driven design.
Taking the long view is essential for B2B healthcare marketing success. For instance, content marketing helps SaaS companies reach their target audience, build trust with prospects, and improve customer retention. However, even the best strategy and most seamless implementation can take months to yield results.
Building a solid foundation also requires a thorough understanding of the customer lifecycle. Map the B2B buyer journey and consider the type of content your prospects prefer, the actions you want them to take, and how you will nurture relationships. Then, tie your tactics to your long-term goals and use data analytics to guide your decisions.
Goals drive strategies, and strategies drive tactics. You probably know that you should build your B2B healthcare marketing strategy on well-defined objectives and include SaaS marketing KPIs to help track progress and make targeted improvements.
However, some companies neglect the importance of defining goals appropriate for their growth stage and trajectory. Simply parroting what you hear other SaaS companies aim to accomplish may send you down the wrong path. If you base your strategy on the wrong goals, the outcome will likely be disappointing.
To determine your objectives, you must know where you are. "If you're starting out, you need traffic. If your audiences don't understand their problems, you must educate them. If you've already gained traction, you may focus on conversions or customer retention efforts to nurture accounts for upsell and cross-sell," Graves says.
Additionally, benchmark your current metrics to ensure SaaS marketing KPIs associated with your goals are realistic. These metrics must align with your sales performance and encourage B2B marketing and sales alignment to yield lasting results.
A consistent customer experience is essential for building trust throughout the lengthy buyer journey. Unfortunately, gaps in sales and marketing handoffs and friction between the two functions often derail teams from achieving common goals.
Without from-the-trenches insights from sales, marketing teams may overlook factors that affect prospects’ decision-making process. Timely feedback from sales also helps marketers adapt to the shifting customer demand.
"The marketing team needs feedback on the leads it delivers to sales: Is it reaching the right people? If not, you may need to adjust your strategy to bring in high-quality prospects who are more likely to convert," Graves advises.
Sales and marketing must work as an integrated unit and align their objectives. For example, leadership may encourage B2B marketing and sales alignment by establishing shared KPIs among teams. These metrics may include MQL to SQL conversion rate, lead-to-customer rate, and average deal size.
Implement a CRM system and marketing automation tool (e.g., HubSpot) for seamless lead tracking, scoring, and handoff. Align your content strategy with the sales process by developing assets like case studies, ROI calculators, one-pagers, and industry-specific guides—while ensuring the sales team has easy access to them.
Digital marketing tools allow companies to collect customer data and analyze it for timely insights. However, if your B2B healthcare marketing strategy focuses on the wrong KPIs, you may spend resources on chasing vanity metrics instead of making meaningful progress toward your business objectives.
For example, you may drive a lot of traffic to your site, but you won't generate any revenue if the visitors don't convert. "Instead of focusing on visits, measure the number of visitors vs. total clicks on the call-to-action (CTA) to see if your content entices them to go further down your funnel. If a blog post is attracting traffic but not converting, you may need to reposition the content or add a CTA to drive conversions," Graves says.
So, how do you become more thoughtful about what you measure? First, determine conversion goals that align with your company's growth stage and trajectory, then work backward to see which SaaS marketing KPIs to track. Here are some examples:
|
Your business objectives |
SaaS marketing KPIs to track |
|
Customer acquisition |
Lead generation, conversion rates, MQL-to-SQL ratio, and customer acquisition cost (CAC) |
|
Revenue growth |
Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), annual recurring revenue (ARR), and customer lifetime value (CLV) |
|
Customer retention and expansion |
Churn rate, net revenue retention (NRR), and upsell rates |
From resistance to change to complex regulatory requirements, SaaS buyers in the healthcare industry have a lot to consider. You can't expect them to read about a product once and be ready to buy. You need a strategy to engage contacts over time to build trust and relationships.
A lead nurturing strategy is essential for turning opportunities into sales. Your follow-up plan must include content that addresses prospects’ pain points and concerns at various customer lifecycle stages and demonstrates how your solution can help them overcome their challenges.
For example, prospects at the top of the funnel (i.e., awareness stage) may not understand their problems and that a solution is available to solve their challenges. So, instead of jumping right into your product, you must first educate them about their pain points before they realize the relevance of your solution.
Moreover, stakeholders in different roles face unique challenges, so you must understand each contact's priorities and personalize your communications. Speak with your colleagues in various customer-facing roles to understand prospects' emotional drivers and craft messages that resonate with each target audience segment.
Additionally, leverage data analytics to gain audience insights and continuously refine your strategy. Revisit buyer personas often to ensure they reflect the latest market demand and customer expectations to adapt your B2B healthcare marketing strategy.
B2B healthcare marketing can be overwhelming, and you must focus on activities that matter. The five foundational elements discussed in this post will help you allocate resources strategically to maximize impact.
Spot On has helped healthcare SaaS companies implement holistic B2B healthcare marketing strategies to gain traction and drive results for over a decade. We align our approach and tactics with your business objectives and growth trajectory to help you achieve sustainable, long-term success.
Book a meeting to see how we can help you build a solid marketing foundation.
